Carbonara

Trickiest thing about carbonara is the last 30 seconds.  Wrong move, wrong temperature, and you get a glom of gluey pasta or scrambled eggs.  You can find lots of posts on how to make it, but until I made this one change in technique, the perfect carbonara eluded me.

Ratios:

1/2lb pasta (spaghetti or linguini)

1/2 cup micro plane pecorino

1 egg yolk and 1 egg

1/2 lb bacon or pancetta

1. Fry bacon in a pan until just on the edge of crisp in a large enough pan to hold everything comfortably when done. Remove most but not all rendered fat and turn off heat to pan (see number 2 below for timing)
2. Cook pasta trying to time so it is done about 3 minutes after number 1 above.  You want bacon pan warm but not hot enough to scramble egg mixture.
3. During 1 and 2, prepare egg and cheese mixture, whisk together well.
4. When pasta is done, add pasta to bacon pan mixing with bacon and rendered fat.  I use tongs or a pasta hook to scoop right out of water into pan. You need the hot water for below.
5. Quickly add about 1/2 cup +/- of the hot cooking liquid to the bacon and pasta pan and mix it up
6. Add a couple table spoons of the hot cooking liquid to the egg and cheese mixture.  If too hot add 1 tbs of cold water first.
7. Add egg and cheese and water mixture to the pasta and bacon mixture adding more pasta water if too gluey.  It will set up in the next couple minutes so err on the slightly runny side.
8. Plate on hot plates
9. Garnish with fresh ground pepper and fresh parsley or basil if you have it

Steps 5 and 6 are the difference from the traditional carbonara recipes.  Most say to add water last.  I found that this was too late, you already had a blob of gluey pasta that wouldn't recover.  So this is my secret sauce.

I have also added vegetables to the cooking pasta for a one-pan meal like the green beans in the pic below, though I would opt for broccoli instead.

Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Gravy

Sorry no pictures this round.  Trust me though...

1 Pork tenderloin cut into 3/4" thick medallions.

6-8 sliced cremini mushrooms

1 onion sliced

Cornstarch

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Salt for brine

2 cups chicken or mushroom broth

Oil

Butter

Brine pork medallions in a quick salt brine for 1-4 hours

Remove from brine, pat dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper (easy on the salt though since they were brined)

Dredge pork in cornstarch

In big frying pan, preferably cast iron, brown seasoned and dredged pork medallions in some oil, but don't cook through.  Make sure pan is hot enough to brown nicely.  Need enough oil so no cornstarch stays dry

Remove pork to plate or pan and hold in a 250 degree oven

Brown and caramelize onion and brown mushrooms in pan

Add broth and turn up heat so it starts to simmer and reduce, add pork back in, the residual cornstarch in pan and coating on the pork will thicken.  Turn pork several times to baste.  Turn off heat when gravy is right consistency.  Add a tablespoon of butter and/or cream to finish sauce

Serve with pasta, or rice or nothing.